The Machine
by RattyCat
Summary: Magneto has an interesting conversation with a woman made of metal.


_Magneto has an interesting conversation with a... well, a woman made of metal._

He didn't even know why he was in that house now. It looked empty, yet he was sure he had felt a large mass of metal moving around inside.

He heard footsteps from one of the other rooms. He hadn't been mistaken, there was something here. For a moment he had thought it had to be a mechanical suit of armor or something of the like, because he could tell there were circuits inside it though it was shaped like a person, as he stared at the walls that lay between him and it however he discovered that it was just too dense.

He moved silently into the next room, and saw it more clearly this time. There was only one wall between him and it now.

"Yes. I can see you too." Called a female voice. For a moment he just continued to stand there in stunned silence. Then he decided to risk walking into the room where it was.

What he saw made him gasp. It did not have a human face, but its figure was very feminine. The metal of its skin was colored pale blue and was edged in places with a navy swirls. It stood looking at him for a long time, its bug-like head tilted to one side. A human being would not have been able to see through the visor, which looked much was the same as the rest of it, but he could. A wide variety of sensory devices were focused upon him.

"You are _Eric_. Is that right?" It said at last.

He nodded slightly.

"I am called _X1_. Though we do not use such titles that much."

"Where did you come from? Who built you?" He was in awe.

"Do you know where you come from or who built you?" It asked.

"I wasn't built, I was born." He told it.

"Aren't they the same thing?" XI asked.

He smiled. "I suppose they are, in a way."

"I know a little about you. I have watched the _news_. You are very good at manipulating the material of which I am made. Even so, you are inquiring about how I was constructed, I assume, because I am beyond what you though could be done with metal."

"Yes." He admitted.

"How advanced do you think I am?" XI asked.

"Well, I can see you have a number of very advanced devices integrated throughout your system. In fact I'm not sure what they are all are for."

XI shifted slightly, then asked. "How advanced do you think you are?"

"I am one of the most advanced creatures to have evolved on this planet. I can only assume it was one of my kind who created you." He told XI, who simply tilted her head to one side again.

"Interesting you should think so. I was not created by any primate, though my ancestors were created by creatures a little like them. I was designed and constructed by other machines."

"You were made on another planet then?" He asked with a slight nod.

"Yes." XI confirmed. "Now you will tell me why you are more advanced than a homosapien."

"I am a member of a species which is the next step in natural evolution. I have abilities beyond those of a homosapien. You said so yourself, I have the ability to bend metal to my will through the formation of a magnetic field."

"I can bend metal to my will too." XI said.

"No." He told it. "You are a machine. You are made of metal. You cannot manipulate your matter in the same way that I could. For one thing, you do not have a will."

XI was silent for a long time. "You think I am nothing more than another lump of metal?"

"You are a very advanced machine, an intricate imitation of intelligent life, but yes, you are a lump of metal." He told XI.

"Intellectually your evolution has done remarkably little for you." XI said bluntly. "I am a lump of metal as much as you are a lump of flesh. I have a soul. I have emotion, and you, through your lack of imagination, have hurt my feelings."

"Perhaps that is the reaction you were programed to give to such things."

"It is your intention to provoke me?" XI spoke calmly. There was no reply.

"I am not at your mercy. If you are as advanced as you say, you should see that."

"You have weapons which you could fire at me no matter what position I twisted you into."

"You have a very violent mind." XI told him. "Does your level of understanding always stop at physical characteristics? We could tare each other to pieces, but it would achieve very little."

"I have no doubt." Magneto smiled. "So tell me. Why have you come to earth?"

"To study it. I am an anthropologist among other things." XI replied. "I cannot interfere, before you say anything else. How could I possibly take sides in your affairs?"

"I can appreciate that. How could a mere machine take sides after all? You do what you are designed to do."

XI chuckled. "I do. As all living things fulfill the functions they are designed for."

He smiled, he was usually good at sparking emotions in people, but then this wasn't a person he was talking to. "I take it you are currently studying the X-factor." He asked the machine.

"Of course. It is an interesting transition." XI paused briefly. "The sapient beings on this planet have come a long way over the last few hundred years. Genetic change was inevitable, and just in time too. The Earth is about to undergo some very dramatic changes in climate and geography, among other things."

"Who do you think will win this war?" He asked XI, for a moment mesmerised by the machines intricate beauty, now he had scanned all he could manage.

"Who wins any war? This is not the battle you think it is Eric. This is nature, a system which involves all life on Earth, the only winners in the end are those who can live when circumstances changes, as they will. You and those like you are an insurance policy of life where diversity helps secure full regeneration. We machines are the same, in a way. We see what adaptations we need to make to fit into an environment. Perhaps the only difference is we are more consciously aware of our evolution and are able to direct it as we choose."

"I see. That is a very reasonable view to take." He nodded.

"And now, I think it is time for me to leave. Your acquaintances are wondering where you are, they are outside this building now in fact."

"Well I shouldn't keep them waiting." Magneto smiled again. "Thank you. I've enjoyed this conversation greatly and feel I have learned much from you."

"I'd like to hope you did." XI said. "And regarding that which you take with you from this place, I must warn you."

"About what?"

"I know that you have been taking notes about my physiology. If you ever should try to replicate any part of me, you should know that in doing so you will be setting in motion a chain of events like those which led to my creation in the first place."

XI turned, and sped away so quickly that all he saw of her movement was a blur.


End file.
